Materials

Miniature Painting

Islamic miniature painting is generally understood to mean small paintings that are or once were part of a manuscript, used as a frontispiece or an illustration for a text. Drawings and individual paintings have, however, also been preserved. They were either sketches or were intended to be placed as independent works of art in an album.

The miniatures usually had a paper base, but cardboard and in rare cases cotton or silk cloth were also used. The brilliant colors are usually opaque.

The oldest preserved miniature paintings were made in around the year 1000, but not until around 1200 were they found in larger numbers. Islamic miniature painting is often categorized rather summarily into four regional schools: the Arab, the Persian, the Indian, and the Ottoman Turkish.

Miniature from a copy of Muhammad ibn Husam’s Khawarannama (Book of the East). “Malik Lifts Abu’l Mihjan from the Saddle”

Iran, Shiraz (?); 1477
Miniature: 17.8 × 20.5 cm

Turkmen paintings often have a somewhat simpler line and composition than contemporary Timurid work, but were frequently more dynamic and colorful. This is decidedly true of the copy of the Khawarannama that was completed in 1477.

Muhammad ibn Husam’s “Book of the East” from c. 1426 deals in free poetic form with the martial achievements of the Prophet Muhammad’s son-in-law, Ali, and his familiars. It took its title from Ali’s chief opponent, King Kubad of Khawaran, and was modeled largely on Firdawsi’s Shahnama.